ASAN condemns the final passage of the 2018 Budget Resolution, which would set the stage for tax cuts for corporations and the richest Americans by cutting $5 trillion dollars over the next decade from Medicaid, Social Security, and other essential services that allow people with disabilities to live good lives in our communities.
Real tax reform should benefit all citizens, and cannot not be done by cutting basic programs that support people with disabilities in the community. But that’s not what Congress has in store. While they haven’t released a specific tax reform bill yet, the instructions in the budget and the principles Congressional leadership have shared publicly should alarm the entire disability community. Congress intends to use the same underhanded and partisan legislative trick they tried to use to repeal the ACA–reconciliation–to ram through a massive tax cut on the wealthiest Americans, at the cost of the lives and liberty of people with disabilities. And once again, they’re trying to cut Medicaid.
The disability community cannot afford this bill. Our lives and the basic services that support us are not a slush fund for tax breaks. ASAN urges Congress to stop this devastating course, go back to the drawing board, and come back with a bipartisan agenda for real tax reform that protects the lives and well-being of disabled Americans.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization run by and for autistic people. ASAN was created to serve as a national grassroots disability rights organization for the autistic community run by and for autistic Americans, advocating for systems change and ensuring that the voices of autistic people are heard in policy debates and the halls of power. Our staff work to educate communities, support self-advocacy in all its forms, and improve public perceptions of autism. ASAN’s members and supporters include autistic adults and youth, cross-disability advocates, and non-autistic family members, professionals, educators, and friends.